Killdeer stands down Warriors in 63-58, overtime nailbiter

Mar. 8—KILLDEER — On their home court, Killdeer's Cowboys took away a thrilling, 63-58 overtime win that sends them to play Stanley at the New Town Event Center on March 9, 2024 at noon. The Thursday, March 8 win also propelled the Cowboys further towards a potential state-tournament berth versus a Stanley team that comes into the game at 18-6 after their 50-41 loss to Des Lacs-Burlington in the Division A-Region 3 Tournament finals at the Minot State Dome.

Killdeer ran down a 14-9, first-quarter lead as Cooper Bang dropped in a trio of 3-pointers and Owen Schleppenbach scored 5 of his own, but the Cowboys got snared by a 7-point second quarter to take a thin, 21-18 lead into the halftime break as Standing Rock scored a single-digit quarter at 9 as well.

KHS (15-9) continued to put on the pressure with a 17-10 third frame as Cooper kept banging away with a trey and 5 points, while Chase Kling dropped one in from behind the arc and Hansen came alive for 7 of his double-digit 11 points on the night for Killdeer. Bang kept sinking buckets from outside in the final eight minutes of regular-time, notching a pair of 3s on his way to a team-high 23 and Schleppenbach scored 4 of his 15, but Brently Harrison had some solid second-half production and helped the Warriors into an extra four minutes of gametime with 16 of his game-high 24 points and helped knot the contest at an even 52-apiece.

Killdeer held Standing Rock without a field goal in the final frame, while five Cowboys rode their way onto the scoresheet to outlast the visitors and close out the game with an 11-6 final advantage in the overtime period for the win and converted 7-of-10 from the free-throw line.

Standing Rock's Jarret Kelly clocked in with a double-digit night at 12 points and Thane Beheler brought home 13 in the losing effort.

For more information about prep basketball in North Dakota, please keep reading your Dickinson Press and/or visit the websites at

https://ndhsaanow.com/teams/basketball-boys

and

https://ndhsaanow.com/teams/basketball-girls

.